Carol Berkin on The Bill of Rights No One Wanted

Vaulted behind a thick glass display case at the National Archives, and revered above the marble edifices and monuments of Washington D.C., sits a faded piece of parchment. In the eyes of many, the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution symbolizes the bedrock ideas on which our country was built. Yet history tends to look past the true origins of this foundational work – a set of amendments, which most in the First U.S. Congress deemed either unnecessary or ineffective at protecting individual liberty. Few know the actual story of the drafting of the Bill of Rights better than Carol Berkin, an award-winning history professor and author of The Bill of Rights: The Fight to Secure Ameri­ca’s Liberties. Berkin joins Bob to trace the history leading up to its formation, with vivid detail on the context and thinking of the key figures in the debate. We learn, for example, that the Bill of Rights is indeed a symbol: Perhaps more than anything, it symbolizes the compromise and perseverance that were required to unite a deeply divided new nation, against all odds. Hear the whole story, this Sunday at 9am PACIFIC/12pm EASTERN, on Talk 910.